Drawer slides



United States Patent 3,321,253 DRAWER SLIDES Donald E. Everhurg, Southbridge, Mass., assignor to American Optical Company, Southbridge, Mass, a voluntary association of Massachusetts Filed June 4, 1964, Ser. No. 372,526 2 Claims. (Cl. 308-36) This invention relates to improvements in drawer slides for mounting drawers and like elements in drawer-receiving cabinets.

Primary functions of drawer slides are to center the drawer laterally and support its weight and the load within, with these functions being necessary to insure the smooth and unobstructed entry and withdrawal of the drawer to and from a drawer cabinet.

Presently these functions are performed by a slide and guide arrangement, wherein a metal slide is securely fastened to each sidewall of the drawer and slidably engaged with a mating guide, which is fastened to the drawer cabinet. It is easily understood that in such a system the centering and supporting functions are at least in part, performed by the same portion of the slide member. The guide member is usually in the form of a C-shaped channel, with the back of the C-shape secured to the drawer cabinet. The open part of the C-shape is for slidably receiving the slide member, which may be one of a variety of shapes; for instance, it could be also C-shaped with flanges projecting from its ends, through which bolts secure it to the drawer, so that the back of the C-shape slides against the inside of the back of the C-shaped guide member. When the slide and guide are respectively fastened to the drawer and drawer cabinet and slidably interengaged, the weight of the drawer and its contents is borne by the lower leg of the slide. Also, the centering functiOn is similarly borne, in part, by the same leg, pressing against the guide when the drawer is off-center, and the same force distributions would be appropriate if the slide were of another shape such as an elongated metal bar of rectangular cross-section.

In such arrangements, problems arise with the same portion of the slide bearing the burden of performing the two aforementioned functions. Ideally, the weight-bearing function should be performed by a stiff member and the centering function by a resilient member. It is, of course, more expensive to produce and assemble two members for the slide portion of the system, and the use of a single member with the same part of that member performing both functions requires a trade-off of perfection in the accomplishments of one or both functions.

Accordingly, a primary object of the present invention is to provide a slide member to perform the functions of centering and supporting a drawer within a drawer cabinet, so that the drawer is obstructed neither by the sides nor the bottom of the drawer cabinet.

A further and more specific object is to provide a slide, separate portions of which perform the functions of centering and supporting.

A still further object is to provide a slide extruded or formed in other ways from a single material so that preselected portions can be both stifliy and yieldingly resilient, depending solely upon its cross-section.

These and other objects of the invention are performed in one illustrative embodiment of the invention which features a nylon, or other plastic, slide extruded into a shape having one edge of the body portion with an extension of a given thickness and substantially rectangular cross-section to support the drawer. Another edge of the body has an extension of .a lesser thickness to be resilient and rounded to be flexed laterally toward the body (thereby providing an equal and opposite centering force) when the slide is engaged with the drawer. A third extension is substantially in the form of a dove-tail and protrudes from the opposite side of the body from the first and second extensions to engage a suitable and similarly shaped channel or groove in the drawer cabinet.

Other features, objects, advantages, and embodiments are contemplated, all of which will be apparent from the following more detailed description with reference to the accompanying figures, in which:

FIG. 1 is an isometric view of a drawer slide member constructed according to principles of the present invention; and

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a drawer and drawer cabinet employing the slide members of FIG. 1 in a typical structural arrangement.

Referring to the drawing, and particularly to FIG. 1, there is shown in isometric projection of a slide member having an elongated body portion 10 from one edge of which a first extension 12 protrudes, and from another edge of which a second extension 14 protrudes. On the opposite side of the body from extensions 12 and 14, there is a substantially dove-tail protrusion 16, the word substantially qualifying dove-tail because of the concave or curved face 18.

The slide member is extruded or otherwise formed of a plastic material, such as nylon, and acetal or a polyethylene, and has a first extension 12 which is designed to bear the weight of the drawer to be supported and its contents. Therefore, it is shown with a thickness dimension 13, large relative to the thickness dimension 15 of the second extension 14. When the slide is placed in slidable engagement with the drawer 20 and the side of the drawer case 22, as shown in FIG. 2, the second extension 14 is urged toward the body 10 by the back wall of groove 37 substantially in direction 17, so that a centering force is provided in a direction opposite to direction 17. The rather small crosssectional dimension 15 provides the yielding resilience necessary for the performance of this centering function.

On the other side of the body portion is a substantially dove-tail extension for slidable engagement with a dovetail receiving groove 24 in the side of the drawer cabinet 22. The curved face 18 in the extension is to relieve the tolerances for proper fitting of the slide to the drawer cabinet. It is, of course, not essential to have the third extension 16 in the shape of a dove-tail. The slide may be otherwise secured to the drawer cabinet, such as by screws or the like, but the preferred embodiment shown is advantageous in that assembly is particularly facilitated and inexpensive, since there are no screws or other fastening needed.

Furthermore, the curved portion 19, which connects the first and second extensions, is designed to provide some increased thickness over that which would result from right angles at the base of extension 14 and therefore strength for those rare instances when that extension is hearing the drawer load, i.e. when the drawer is in the fully withdrawn position. This strength is provided by the elimination of weaknesses usually caused by corners rather than smooth curves.

Referring further to FIG. 2, there is shown a representation of a complete drawer-drawer cabinet assembly using the slide members according to the present invention. Drawer 20 is shown as comprising sides 26 and 28 and bottom 30, which are held together by grooves 39 and 41, and sides 26 and 28 contain longitudinal grooves 37 and 38, respectively, for receiving slides 10 and 11. The drawer cabinet is shown as comprising sides 22 and 32 and bottom 34, held together in grooves 35 and 37, and the sides 22 and 32 contain grooves 24 and 25 of substantially dove-tail receiving shape.

Without the slides 10 and 11, the drawer 20 would rest on the bottom 34 of the drawer cabinet and the drawer 20 would tend to move from side-to-side during movement of the drawer, thereby eliminating the clearances 42, 44, and 46 around the drawer, thus hampering smooth insertion and withdrawal and even causing sticking and binding. Slides and 11 provide a support for the drawer 20 to maintain the space 42 between the bottom of the drawer 30 and the bottom of the drawer cabinet 34, and also provide a means for maintaining the center of the drawer 50 at the center line 40 of the assembly. As previously described, the extension 12 primarily provides the means for accomplishment of the supporting function of the slide and extension 14 performs the centering function. When the slides 10 and 11 are inserted in proper position, the extension 14 must be bent in directions 17 and 19, respectively, to insure a proper fit with the grooves in the drawer. With the extensions 14 flexed in this way, their tendency is to force the drawer 20 into a centered position. For instance, if the drawer is moved in direction 19, the extension 14 of slide 11 will present an equal and opposite force tending to center the drawer, and an over-reaction by the extension 14 of the slide 11 will be counterbalanced by a reaction from the extension 14 of slide 10.

In this way, a smooth and unobstructed motion of the drawer 20 within the drawer cabinet is insured and a substantially constant clearance is maintained between the walls and bottom of the drawer cabinet and the respective walls and bottom of the drawer. Therefore, no substantial undesired movement of the drawer will occur laterally in directions 17 or 19 or vertically in directions 21 or 23. Also, it has been found that as much as a to 1 reduction in cost over presently available slides is possible with the slide described herein.

While a preferred form of the drawer slide has been shown and specifically described, it is to be understood that such was for illustrative purposes only and the invention is to be accorded the full scope of the following claims.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. A drawer slide for engagement to a drawer and a drawer cabinet, formed from a material that is both stifily and yieldingly resilient depending upon its cross section and shape, comprising:

an elongated, vertically extending body portion having upper and lower ends;

a first supporting extension, extending perpendicularly and integrally from the upper end of said body portion and having a given thickness and shape to support a straight surface and substantially half the weight of a drawer;

a second drawer centering extension, curving toward said supporting extension and extending from the lower end of said body portion, said second extension being of a thickness substantially less than said given thickness and of a curved shape to flex resiliently in a perpendicular direction relative to said body portion and to hold a drawer in a centered position relative to a drawer cabinet; and

a third securing extension from said body portion for engagement with a drawer cabinet, said first and second extensions extending in one direction relative to said body portion, and said third extension extending in the opposite direction.

2. The invention according to claim 1 wherein said third extension has a curved face to facilitate its engagement with the drawer cabinet.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,763,603 6/1930 Donahue 49-489 X 2,051,757 8/1936 Travis 49-489 2,726,916 12/ 1955 Regenhardt 312-314 2,757,422 8/1956 Flicker 49-496 X 2,787,348 4/1957 Goodemote 49-489 X 2,872,184 2/1959 Wise.

2,994,930 8/1961 Cromwell 49-496 X 3,015,511 1/1962 Sitterly 49-435 3,126,230 3/1964 Spicer 308-3.6 3,213,584 10/1965 Bush 49-489 3,243,237 3/1966 Sprecher 308-36 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,282,698 12/ 1962 France.

217,595 10/ 1958 Great Britain.

MARTIN P. SCI-IWADRON, Primary Examiner.

DAVID J. WILLIAMOWSKY, Examiner.

L. L. JOHNSON, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A DRAWER SLIDE FOR ENGAGEMENT TO A DRAWER AND A DRAWER CABINET, FORMED FROM A MATERIAL THAT IS BOTH STIFFLY AND YIELDINGLY RESILIENT DEPENDING UPON ITS CROSS SECTION AND SHAPE, COMPRISING: AN ELONGATED, VERTICALLY EXTENDING BODY PORTION HAVING UPPER AND LOWER ENDS; A FIRST SUPPORTING EXTENSION, EXTENDING PERPENDICULARLY AND INTEGRALLY FROM THE UPPER END OF SAID BODY PORTION AND HAVING A GIVEN THICKNESS AND SHAPE TO SUPPORT A STRAIGHT SURFACE AND SUBSTANTIALLY HALF THE WEIGHT OF A DRAWER; A SECOND DRAWER CENTERING EXTENSION, CURVING TOWARD SAID SUPPORTING EXTENSION AND EXTENDING FROM THE LOWER END OF SAID BODY PORTION, SAID SECOND EXTENSION BEING OF A THICKNESS SUBSTANTIALLY LESS THAN SAID GIVEN THICKNESS OF A CURVED SHAPE TO FLEX RESILIENTLY IN A PERPENDICULAR DIRECTION RELATIVE TO SAID BODY PORTION AND TO HOLD A DRAWER IN A CENTERED POSITION RELATIVE TO A DRAWER CABINET; AND A THIRD SECURING EXTENSION FROM SAID BODY PORTION FOR ENGAGEMENT WITH A DRAWER CABINET, SAID FIRST AND SECOND EXTENSIONS EXTENDING IN ONE DIRECTION RELATIVE TO SAID BODY PORTION, AND SAID THIRD EXTENSION EXTENDING IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION. 